Not seen on race day for some 69 weeks, Shane and Cassie Oxlade’s Queman showed utter grit and determination to lead throughout at Morphettville, winning the Group 3 SAJC Behemoth Stakes (1200m) on Saturday.
A winner of the Listed WJ Adam Stakes when resuming last time in, the son of Mint Lane (USA) then scored a narrow victory in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate to give his trainers their first elite level victory.
Suffering a sesamoid injury in his lead up to the 2024 spring carnival, the South Australian sprinter was given plenty of time to overcome his injury and showed in his two jump out efforts leading into Saturday, that he still possessed his zest for racing.
With first-up wins at his two most recent campaigns, couple with his jump out efforts, connections surely had some level of confidence leading into Saturday’s Behemoth Stakes, but you just never know when they’re coming off an injury.
Going forward under Conor Murtagh to cross Ciaron Maher’s Recommendation (Shalaa) to take up the running, Queman controlled the race while Daniel Bowman’s race favourite Is It Me (Iffraaj) settled back in the field with just one runner behind him.
Leading comfortably, and travelling a few horses off the rail, many may have thought the 7yo gelding would stop, but once Recommendation started to challenge, Queman continued to fight down the entire straight.
Holding off Recommendation to record his tenth victory, the Group 3 win took Queman’s earning past the $1m.
Off the back of her more than seven length win last start, 5yo America mare Lingani ran into third, just ahead of Is It Me back in fourth.
“Pretty proud of the horse,” enthuse Shane Oxlade.
“To be honest, 1,200m, I was worried because he just likes to get up and get going. Any other horse, he'd done more than enough to run 1,200m.
“He settled beautiful in front. I said to Connor, don't chase him out of the gate. Just leave him alone. He'll get up. He'll get travelling.
“But geez he’s a tough bugger, you know, like it’s been a long time, 69 weeks, he’s been in work a long time. I'm just proud of the horse.
“I knew he'd run well, but I thought he'd be vulnerable, to be honest.
“You win a Group 1, you win any race, it's great. Bring him back after 69 weeks, back at home, to do that at 1,200m, out of his comfort zone first up. Pretty wrapped to be honest.”
With the initial plan to head to the Group 3 MRC The Heath (1100m) at Caulfield at the end of the month, Oxlade felt they may just wait for the weather to clear up with Queman being a much better horse on top of the ground.
Bred and raced by the Smith family, Queman is the first foal and winner out of the Clangalang mare Langreen, whose only win in seven starts came in an 1100m Strathalbyn maiden.
Langreen was not covered in the subsequent three season after foaling Queman before a visit to Twin Hills Stud’s Denman, resulting in the currently unraced 3yo filly named Tinkatron, before producing a Peltzer colt two seasons later.
Clearly the best of four stakes winners by the American bred Maria’s Mon stallion Mint Lane who covered his final book in 2019, the impressive first up performance of Queman will likely see him cross the border and chase spring richest in Melbourne.
